The Moistest Chocolate Mug Cake

Holy bananas, you guys. It has been FOUR YEARS since I first developed this chocolate mug cake recipe. Omg, it seriously feels like just yesterday. Ever since then it has broken the internet. Well, not really, but it’s the most popular dessert recipe on my site to date — for good reason!

I’m revisiting this mug cake post specifically today because 1. I have a recipe video that goes with it now (check below right above the recipe!), 2. I cannot believe the response on this mug cake, and 3. if you’re into Valentine’s Day — wouldn’t this be the perfect dessert for you and that special someone??

The simplest dessert yet incredibly moist, easy, and the best single-serving dessert out there (to share or not to share)!

You likely have ALL the ingredients in your pantry already. When you get that late night craving? Or want a small batch dessert (and not whip out a giant baking pan to make brownies to nip that craving)? This chocolate mug cake IS FOR YOU!! If you haven’t made this yet; you are 100% missing out.

Seriously though, you’re probably so over mug cakes and you’re probably rolling your eyes at me right now but STOP! I promise you this isn’t like any other mug cake out there.

I’ve tried a bunch of mug cakes and I hated them. I thought they were a really neat concept for a quick dessert fix but nothing would ever beat baking an entire cake or cupcake. I hated that all the mug cakes came out SPONGY and they had the grossest texture.

Last week, I was CRAVING chocolate like none other. It was a pretty dire situation. We didn’t have any desserts in the house because I hadn’t been baking and I didn’t want to run out to get anything so I thought I’d give a mug cake a shot.

It ended up turning into a recipe development hour because the first batch came out horrible. Like, I threw it in the trash can and it was just one lumpy sponge thing.

The second one was slightly better but still really bad. The third, I switched out some ingredients and added a little bit more of some and it came out how I wanted but I knew it could’ve been better so on the fourth try, I finally got it to work and the exact texture I wanted.

You guys, this is the moistest chocolate mug cake I’ve ever tasted before. I’m not joking! You have to try this and see for yourself.

It’s a great alternative to baking an entire pan of brownies & it’s a super awesome quick fix for that chocolate craving! Jason loved it and said it tasted like brownies! Yay :)

I mean seriously. How could you not want to drop everything and go make this immediately?!

This best and moistest chocolate mug cake you will ever have. It's not spongey or dry like other mug cakes! You will never use another chocolate mug cake recipe again!

Servings: 1

Ingredients

1/4cupall-purpose flour

2tablespoonunsweetened cocoa powder

1/4teaspoonbaking powder

2tablespoongranulated sugar(you can add 1 tbsp. more if you like it a bit sweeter)

1/8teaspoonsalt

1/4cup+ 1 tbsp. milk

2tablespoonvegetable oil

1tablespoonhazelnut chocolate spread or mini chocolate chips

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

Whisk in the milk and vegetable oil until all ingredients are combined and batter has no clumps.

Pour batter into a microwave-safe mug. Mine was a 14-ounce mug. You want enough head space for the cake to rise without pouring over.

Add hazelnut chocolate spread in the middle of the batter or mini chocolate chips. Just drop it in the middle, no need to push it down and sink it in the batter. It does that on its own when it cooks! :)

Place a paper towel into the microwave and set the mug on top (this is to catch any batter if your mug cake overflows).

Please note that ALL microwaves are different therefore can yield different results and can overcook this mug cake if you aren't careful. My microwave is 950 watts and I cooked mine on 100% power for 70 seconds. Knowing this information, it may help you better judge how long to cook yours for and at what power.

You can totally omit the tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread if you want or use a different spread of your choice (peanut butter, biscoff, etc.) or even chocolate chips like I used in the video. I just thought it made the cake even more moist but the cake itself is moist enough without it!

**This recipe is specifically made for the microwave. I developed it for the microwave. I don't know cook time or temperature for an oven...I'd imagine it'd be a very quick cook time at a low temp., but since I didn't test the recipe for an oven, I cannot give specifics. Sorry!

No eggs? Correct. There are NO EGGS in this recipe. Why? Egg is what makes the mug cake spongy. If you think about it, when you bake a full-sized cake, you typically use 1 or 2 eggs...for a mug cake to use 1 egg is A LOT!

Self-rising flour? I have tested this with self-rising and it does NOT work. At least I felt it didn't work because it was too spongy for me. You are more than welcome to use it, however, please keep in mind that I don't recommend this method.

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I made this with coconut oil, my favourite GF all purpose flour and subbed the milk with half canned coconut milk and half water for my friend with a bunch of allergies and it turned out fantastic! Never again will I be stuck with dry crumbly mug cake :)

This recipe has changed my life! I don’t know why I haven’t tried mug cakes before, but as someone who doesn’t own an oven, tends to work until she’s starving & needs to be a bit frugal, they’re a dream come true. Made from scratch AND super fast AND delicious & filling? Yes please!

Yes!! Yes!!! This really is the best mug cake ever. My gripes with the other 4-5 recipes I’ve tried have been the sugary sweetness and weird texture. This one is perfectly balanced. Thanks Julie. But now I’m concerned for my late night chocolate cravings balance!!

This is an awesome cake. BEST EVER!!! I subbed the chocolate with oil, the flour for eggs, and the sugar for shredded bacon and it was AMAZING!!!! My cousin was allergic to chocolate (I said was because well y’know she ate some chocolate…) and she loved it!!